No thanks; I’ll take the stairs…

“The fact that there’s a highway to hell and a stairway to heaven says a lot about expected traffic numbers.” (Shower Thoughts) – as seen on the Jack’s Winning Words blog.

My mom also often used the phrase, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” I suppose that road is marker with round tuits, which you always meant to get. The side roads to that destination probably are named Coulda, Woulda and Shoulda. It’s no wonder that traveling on that path is often referred to “going down the road to ruin.”

The climb to heaven must seem daunting to many, too; since Jack went on to remind us that Jesus said it would be easier to pass a camel through the eye of a needle than to get into heaven. Of course He was talking about earning your way into heaven. He went on to explain that we get in to Heaven through the grace of God by accepting Him as our Savior.

So, if we can’t earn our way to Heaven, why live a good life in communion with God and perhaps service to others? The answer to that has to do with being ready for your own final judgement. No one knows when their time will come and no one is going to be given the time to say “I’m sorry” and ask for forgiveness at the end. It seems to make much more sense to be ready at any time.

Being ready means having a steady and meaningful relationship with God and the willingness to accept His will for your life. Most find that God’s will involves helping others and doing what’s right as you live out your days. From that service and acceptance of God’s will comes the peace and contentment with life that others may not understand. Perhaps that is how we climb the stairs to Heaven, one stair of service and prayer at a time – not earning our way; but rather, accepting our way into our final reward.

I’m sure that we’ve all met or heard about people who devote their lives to helping others. Mother Teresa in India always comes to mind; but there’s countless people right in our own communities that serve the needs of others. I think of the people of Supportive Alternative Living (S.A.L.) in my community who serve the needs of adult special needs people living independently in our neighborhoods and the volunteers at Community Sharing who provide food and services to those in need in our area. You may not see them providing those services; but maybe that’s just because they are a little ahead of you on the stairway.

So, this week, as life throws in your face the opportunities for you to get on the highway to hell, just say, “No thanks; I’ll take the stairs.” It doesn’t matter how far along you are; at least you’re going in the same direction, if you’re on that stairway. So, take your first step up today.

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This entry was posted on Monday, March 14th, 2016 at 12:11 pm and is filed under Inspiration. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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2 Responses to No thanks; I’ll take the stairs…

It is ” It is harder for a camel to get through the eye of a needle, than a rich man to go to heaven.” The eye of the needle is actually a place, not a real needle that we sew with. I saw that on National Geographic years ago.